[meteorite-list] Is there a Main Mass list?

From: MexicoDoug <mexicodoug_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Wed, 25 Jan 2012 05:15:07 -0500 (EST)
Message-ID: <8CEA96158C9B3D5-26AC-4AFDD_at_webmail-m155.sysops.aol.com>

" A main mass list? Heck, there isn't even a "main mass" definition
everybody agrees on! Here's mine:"

Hi Jeff, all,

A main mass has some scientific value IMO in some circumstances. But
really, it seems to me one of those things that we keep having to fill
out on a boilerplate form that serves of little real scientific value.
Better would be to drop the confusing, unfortunately now unscientfic
(due to the various definitions as you already reminded us) term "main
mass" and just have an entry called,

"biggest known piece" = BKP

which is already used analogously in the case of TKW.

in the database. It's really what most collectors are interested in
anyway and would create probably a bunch more of limited useful
information llike the TKW's which frequently are significantly
understated. My take on a 'main mass' wouldn't require it to be more
than half, but rather the principal piece of the original meteoroid
 from which all fragmentation is derived, and the one expected to travel
furthest up the dispersion ellipse's axis shedding it all. I suppose a
scenario of a boulder splitting into two equal pieces would screw that
up too, but then we could drop some fancier names to describe that
'degenerate' case.

Just sounding off

Kindest wishes
Doug


-----Original Message-----
From: Jeff Grossman <jngrossman at gmail.com>
To: meteorite-list <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
Sent: Tue, Jan 24, 2012 11:33 am
Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Is there a Main Mass list?


  A main mass list? Heck, there isn't even a "main mass" definition
everybody agrees on! Here's mine:

"An individual stone/iron or piece of an individual stone/iron that
comprises the majority (> 50%) of the known mass of a named meteorite."

Jeff

On 1/24/2012 10:08 AM, Bob Loeffler wrote:
> Hi list,
>
> After looking at Jim Strope?s photos of the New Concord main mass
(Rocks
> from Space Picture of the Day a couple days ago) that he got in a
trade with
> ASU (my alma mater; Go Sun Devils!), I thought of a question:
>
> Who has the most main masses in their collection? Of course, I
thought of
> people like Bob Haag, Mike Farmer, etc and museums like the
Smithsonian,
> ASU, etc.
>
> Has anyone ever put together such a list? Because of trading, the
list
> might be hard to keep updated, but maybe not since main masses are
coveted
> and might not be passed around too much. For new falls, the main
mass will
> change as newer/bigger pieces are found, but I would think "someone
in the
> know" could put together the list, or at least start it.
>
> If nobody has such a list, maybe the Meteoritical Bulletin Database
could
> have a few more fields added for easy searching. Fields such as Main
Mass
> Weight, Main Mass Owner and Main Mass Image (for the best photo of
the main
> mass), and then the Owner field could be easily changed if the
Meteoritical
> Society finds out that the main mass was sold/traded to someone else.
> Anyway, just a thought.
>
> In case you are wondering, I have no main masses in my collection.
:-(
>
> Regards,
> Bob L.
>
>
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Received on Wed 25 Jan 2012 05:15:07 AM PST